Great Bike Adventure, Leg 3, Journal Entry 2
February 7-11, 2016
We rolled out of Miahuatlán at 8am, one hour later than we wanted but still ok. We knew we had to ride 21 miles to get to San José del Pacífico, our next destination, and we expected it to be mostly climbing. We were heading to the top of the mountains between Oaxaca City and the coast.
We rolled out of Miahuatlán at 8am, one hour later than we wanted but still ok. We knew we had to ride 21 miles to get to San José del Pacífico, our next destination, and we expected it to be mostly climbing. We were heading to the top of the mountains between Oaxaca City and the coast.
One last look! We had hoped to stop at a restaurant for breakfast once we got into the hills, but there was nothing around. The drive to find some place to eat around the next bend really kept us going, until I got too hungry. Luckily we had tortilla chips, a can of refried beans, and an avocado. We stopped on the side of the road, set up our chairs behind our bikes for wind protection, and made our own breakfast.
About 6 miles from San José, the climbing sort of petered off. We were suspicious it wouldn't last, but the road continued to be nice to us with gentle rolls along a ridge line, and even a few great downhills. We would be there in the early afternoon at this rate! Except that Lewis forgot his water bottle at a restaurant at the top of that last descent a few miles back and had to hitch hike back to get it. At least I had a nice view while I waited!
We stayed in a regular room the first night, for $250. A much nicer place than the hotel in Miahuatlán, for not much more money. We were pretty exhausted, so after finding some dinner we went to bed pretty early. As soon as the sun set, really strong winds came in and shook the whole building. And it was cold! But there was a really hot shower and lots of blankets on the bed.
After moving to the cabin, we went to a cute taqueria for a light lunch of mamelitas (not quite flattened tortillas with beans and cheese on top). 3 for 20 pesos! The place seemed to be a hub of activity, with people coming and going and saying hello. We got to watch it all from the only table in the open air front room, where the cooking was also done.
We went for a walk in the afternoon and came across a hostel up the hill called Trapped Dreams. There we met some funny Italians who weren't even traveling together and a very friendly American from Philadelphia that we ended up hanging out with much of our time there. We also met an Isreali girl who was traveling alone and had been in San José for two weeks. She invited all of us to join in a Temazcal ceremony with her, as the ceremony leader needed more people to be able to perform. We said… sure! We were to meet at the hostel the next morning and she would take us to the temazcalero's (the leader) home in the woods.
A temazcal ceremony is basically a communal visit to a steam room. There are many available in San José but few perform the traditional ceremony to it's fullest. There were 14 of us packed inside the tiny clay igloo with an earth and pine needle floor; we lined the wall, men and women alternating as evenly as possible with our knees to our chest, as there was no room to sit cross-legged. There was a pit in the middle where throughout the ceremony hot rocks were placed and water poured onto to create steam. The temazcalero lead us through 4 sessions of singing, oms and breathing with fresh rocks and steam, and a well-needed fresh air break in the middle. Each session represented the basic elements, earth, water, fire, and wind. It was a very cleansing experience. After the temazcal, the Italians, American and us took a slow walk on some trails back to the town. The forest walk was beautiful.